DESCRIPTION: (Verbatim from the Applicant's Abstract) The main goal of this proposal is to investigate to what extent hemodynamic factors are involved in increased tissue damage associated with ischemia under conditions of hyperglycemia. Elevated systemic blood glucose concentrations have been implicated in poor neurological outcome following stroke in experimental animals and humans. Some studies have reported changes in cerebral blood flow (CBF) associated with hyperglycemia and loss of CBF autoregulation has been implicated as a possible complicating factor in poor outcome associated with hyperglycemia in cerebrovascular disease. We have developed a new high-speed MRI technique to monitor CBF continuously and have generated preliminary data which indicate that in rat brain there is an acute increase in CBF with D-glucose infusion with an associated transient loss of autoregulation. These data suggest that impaired hemodynamics may contribute to poor neurological outcome associated with hyperglycemia stroke. This work will improve our understanding of the role of hyperglycemia in stroke and may help lead to new approaches for stroke management.